The ghost responded, "Yes, my lord. I rely on absorbing these Magical Energy Crystals cultivated to become stronger."

The ghost waved its hand, and the giant tree behind it began to tremble, as one by one, Magical Energy Crystals fell from the branches and floated over.

"My lord, these are the Magical Energy Crystals that have been cultivated," the ghost presented this pile of Magical Energy Crystals to Herag.

Herag roughly counted them, and there were about a hundred in total.

He coldly acknowledged with a hum and then stored all these Magical Energy Crystals into the Space Ring.

A hundred Magical Energy Crystals would mean at least a hundred thousand Magic Stones.

However, Herag certainly wouldn't sell them; these items were too hot to handle.

Selling one or two could still be explained as being obtained from the Death Swamp, but selling a hundred would be tantamount to seeking one's doom.

Herag planned to keep most of them for his own use, as they would be very useful in the future.

After storing the Magical Energy Crystals, he continued to ask, "Is there anything here that contains the Power of Rules?"

That was the real focus, something Herag had always kept in mind.

Although he was currently just a Gaseous Wizard, these things should certainly be prepared in advance.

Most wizards who entered the Death Swamp Ruins were actually after this item.

With something that contains the Power of Rules, one would have the key to advancing to a Level 2 Wizard.

Herag initially had no expectation of finding such a thing, just intending to join the expedition and gain some benefits.

He was only a Gaseous Wizard, unable to protect it even if obtained.

But now the situation had changed, and Herag naturally could start considering how to obtain this item.

The ghost shook its head and said, "That item is already gone; it was taken by someone from the Wizard Plane over a hundred years ago."

"Already taken?" Herag was perplexed; according to rumors, this area always produced such things.

The ghost continued, "My lord, you also know that we were originally demons from the Abyss Plane. But after the space rift was repaired, we couldn't go back."

"However, the rift in the Plane can't be suppressed indefinitely, and the seal on the rift requires blood and soul sacrifices at intervals."

"Every so often, a group of wizards enters here, and many of them will die. These deceased individuals become sacrifices, maintaining the operation of the Witch Array."

By this point, Herag understood that the Death Swamp Ruins no longer had anything containing the Power of Rules.

This was a deceit by the Land of Dawn, tricking the wizards from the Barren Land to enter every ten years for something that actually didn't exist at all.

Each time some wizards entered, some of them would die, and their blood and powerful souls would then become offerings for the Witch Array underfoot.

Clearly, the Witch Array that could seal a Plane rift was not ordinary, and the offerings required must also be extraordinary.

The blood and souls of ordinary people likely would not suffice, whereas the souls of wizards were strong enough to perfectly satisfy the requirements of the Witch Array's offerings.

If the Land of Dawn was straightforward about this, surely no one would enter.

But with the temptation added, there naturally would be wizards eager to enter.

Most of the wizards who entered were Crystalization Wizards because of their intense desire to advance to Level 2 Wizards.

The Land of Dawn used the Power of Rules as bait, luring these wizards from the Barren Land to continuously enter the Death Swamp Ruins.

The entry slots and time were limited, yet the opportunity to die, through the machinations of the Land of Dawn, became a great opportunity.

Who would have thought that this was entirely a scam, deceiving these wizards from the Barren Land to willingly enter and die as sacrifices?

Herag exhaled, his mind quickly piecing together many things and understanding the whole story.

"It seems that the vast majority of people are unaware of the truth."

All wizard organizations and wizard families in the Barren Land had sent people in, with the slots always allocated to important individuals each time.

This point alone showed that very few people knew the inside story, and most likely, only Augustus Academy knew the truth.

There were indeed many resources within the Death Swamp Ruins, and over a hundred years ago, someone had indeed obtained something containing the Power of Rules.

A hundred years isn't a long time for wizards, hence no one doubted anything.

The person who took away the item containing the Power of Rules was likely a wizard from the Land of Dawn.

At that moment, Herag felt as if he were living in a cage designed by the Land of Dawn.

The entire Barren Land was like a cage, with resources, information, and knowledge all controlled by the Land of Dawn.

Herag would not have learned this information if not for the strong Abyss Plane aura on him and possessing the Thunder God Ancestral Bloodline, enabling normal communication with the ghost.

Normally, upon seeing humans, the ghost would have attacked immediately.

But in his current state, Herag was completely in demon form, only capable of being described as a humanoid demon.

"Is there anything good nearby? Take me to see," Herag, having learned the truth, naturally abandoned the idea of seeking the Power of Rules.

Since he was already here, he needed to seize as many benefits as possible.

With the ghost and the human-faced monkey as local guides, he didn't need to explore and search on his own.

They naturally knew where the good things were and where the dangers lay.

The ghost had already handed over the matured Magical Energy Crystals to Herag, with the rest still in cultivation.

Herag naturally wouldn't be so unreasonable as to demand the ghost give him the unmatured ones as well.

"There's nothing good nearby that might catch your esteemed eye, my lord," the ghost, naturally willing to lead the way, was just concerned that Herag might not be satisfied with those items.

Herag waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about that; just take me there."

Things the ghost considered worthless could still be treasures; many Magic Potion Materials were certainly of no use to the ghost.

But to Herag, they were indeed valuable.

Even if he couldn't use them himself, selling them could yield a good amount of money.

Seeing Herag's instructions, the ghost flew ahead to lead the way.

Herag followed along, with the human-faced monkey trailing behind.

He hadn't gone far before he spotted many High-Level Magic Potion Materials, all of which seemed to be centuries old.

There were no signs of animal activity in the surroundings; common animals and wizards dared not come here, making the growth environment quite favorable.

This area was deep within the Black Forest, even Blake and the others wouldn't dare venture this far in.

Herag quickly began to clean up, collecting all the valuable Magic Potion Materials and Casting Materials he saw around him.

While he was gleefully gathering, he suddenly saw a familiar face through Shenlan's environmental detection.

Not far to the left in the Black Forest, Old Man Karl was running wildly with a Silver Sword in hand.

He was clearly injured, with bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, and blood seeping from his chest.

The two people from the Moss Family who were originally with him had disappeared, having most likely met with disaster.

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